The Sun Tai 孙泰

A native of Langya (now part of Linyi, Shandong Province) during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, with the courtesy name Jingyuan.

He resided in the Jiangdong region (the area south of the Yangtze River). He studied under Du Zigong (Du Jiong) of Qiantang and mastered Du’s Taoist doctrines and practices.

Later, he used the Wudoumi Dao (Way of the Five Pecks of Rice, an important early Taoist school) to gather followers. Observing that the reign of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was about to end, he plotted a rebellion. Many scholars and commoners in the Sanwu region (the area around present-day Suzhou, Wuxi, and Huzhou in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces) followed him. The imperial court feared his growing influence; Xie Fu, the Interior Minister of Kuaiji Commandery, exposed his plot, and Sun Tai was eventually executed.

(Sources: Jin Shu·Biography of Sun En, Zizhi Tongjian·Records of the Jin Dynasty)